We are in a particularly intense period for the northern lights
The Sun’s new cycle of activity, the 25th, is one of the most intense ever recorded since solar cycles were first documented in the 18th century.
A solar cycle is a period of about 11 years during which the Sun’s activity varies between a maximum and a minimum. The activity of these cycles is driven on the one hand by magnetic fields, caused by the Sun’s rotation, and on the other by sunspots on the Sun’s surface. Every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic field “resets”: it returns to a smoother state and the sunspots almost completely disappear. The length of solar cycles is determined by the convection of solar material moving through the star’s different layers.
In September 2020, NASA officially announced that the Sun had begun its 25th 11-year solar cycle, after an activity minimum in December 2019. The cycle is expected to reach its peak in July 2025.
The intensity of a solar cycle is measured by the number of sunspots that appear on the surface: the higher the number, the more sustained solar activity is considered to be.
Solar cycle 24 (which began in 2008 and ended in 2019), for example, peaked at 116 sunspots. According to a study published in the journal Solar Physics, solar cycle 25 could reach between 210 and 260 sunspots, which would make the current cycle one of the strongest ever recorded.
The solar flares caused by strong solar activity mean the northern lights appear more often.
Sciences & Vie no. 1236 (September 2020)
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